From Russ

The Ontarion

Hi All,

I don’t often write about my childhood because there really isn’t all that much of it that I care to remember. I figure most parts of the past are best left in the past. However, for some reason a memory from the deep dark crevices of my mind managed to surface. It was basically the story of how my brothers and I ended up having goats. Yes, goats, those smelly hoofed critters that are so cute as kids (baby goats are called kids) but are so homely as adults.

I can’t remember how old I was, perhaps in my very early teens but more likely a bit younger. I had spent the summer up on my mother’s parent’s farm, the Hockridge homestead. As young boys we loved being up there. We worked like ‘full grown men’ and our grandparents in turned appreciated the help and respected us for our efforts. (Some of you may remember one of my original songs, called ‘The Old Farm’ where I wrote about working on the farm as kids. I’m not linking that song in this issue but if anyone wants a reminder, let me know and I’ll include a link in next week’s issue). Anyway, at the end of that summer, my grandparents who didn’t have 2 cents to rub together, wanted to give me something for my efforts. They knew I had become good friends with one of their goats, a young nanny named Gerty. She was a toggenburg, a breed that didn’t have horns. So, seeing as how they were bringing me back to Kitchener in their old pickup truck at the end of the summer, they let me bring Gerty along, for me to keep. I now owned a goat. How cool was that?

Well, my father was furious. He ranted and raged about me having brought a goat home. I don’t know what the big deal was, I could have just as easily brought home a pig. Oh well, that slowly quieted down as time went by. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, it turned out that Gerty was with child. Or to be more accurate, with twins. Wow. My brothers were just as excited as I was because that meant we could each have our own goat. The twins turned out to be a billy and a nanny. We named the male Jake and the female Grindle. And our father was not happy. Now there were 3 goats. Life settled down for a while and the twins grew up and became adult goats. All three were very friendly and basically were as much a family pet as was our dog Tuck. Goats, like most animals, are very curious and if they could (and often did) get out of the goat pen, they would run around exploring and tasting anything eatable which meant the plants in the garden which would again trigger our father’s anger.

One Sunday morning we had all gone to church as per usual. That was not the choice of how to spend a morning for us boys but as kids we couldn’t do much about it. We must have left the goat pen gate unsecured, and we must have left the house door partly open which was not at all unusual back then. We came home to find one goat up on the kitchen counter, one on the couch, and the third just wandering around checking out the rooms in the house. This and the fact that goats are not overly concerned about where and when they leave their little piles of goat poop set our father off an an epic bout of disapproval. It took quite a while for that one to settle down. But it did, eventually. There were new orders regarding keeping the goats under control, which we did, more or less. There was a never ending challenge to keep them out of the garden because to a goat, a garden is rather irresistible.

And that is how we obtained our goats, and a bit about the trials and tribulations of keeping them.

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I’ve got something interesting for this week’s entertainment. Well, at least for me it is interesting. You may remember a few weeks ago I used a Gary Fjellgaard song for one of my little videos. Turns out that 8 years ago this month I had put together an audio recording of another song of his called Heroes in which he laments about how his lost childhood and his childhood heroes are long gone, never to return. At that time 8 years ago that I did the audio recording, my voice was 8 years younger than now, as was my energy and my discipline. 8 years later, meaning now, I stumbled across this song buried deep in my pile of music, and then pulled up that recorded version from my computer’s hard drive. I found it hard to listen to, not so much because of the quality of my music but because of all we have been through this past year and the things and people we have lost. It just sort of hit a nerve. I decided to do a video version of it and actually found it a bit hard to get through at first until I concentrated on the over-all song and not just the meaning buried within. The comparisons of the old audio recording and my new video recording are interesting, same song, very different me. I hope you take the time to listen to and hopefully enjoy both.

Heroes
Video Version

Heroes
8 Year Old Audio Version

doug

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From Russ

Too close to call!

Have you been following the US Election results? As I write this, on Thursday morning November 5th the media is still reporting the results are too close to call – that it may take a few more days (weeks?). My guess - this ‘battle for power’ won’t be settled for months! (if ever!).

A wise man once said, “Power corrupts – and ‘absolute power’ corrupts absolutely”. An example of this is the ‘reign of Hitler’. Once a ‘leader’ is given or takes power it becomes very difficult to kick him out of the mud-puddle. Especially when he is Head of the Military, and has stacked both the Senate and the Supreme Court with “his people!”.

“Nothing endures like change”. We humans are very ‘adaptable creatures’ - - Oh yes, we ‘bitch’ a bit when we HAVE to change, but soon “change” becomes the ‘new norm’ and we ‘go-with-the-flow’. Example: We (most of us) resisted wearing masks – got our ‘dander up’, but now, after months of disguising ourselves, we always carry one (or more) with us, and hang them on our ears as willingly as we snap on our seat-belts when entering a car. But I still have one problem with mask-wearing – how am I supposed to wet my finger to turn a page, or open those damned plastic bags in the produce department of the grocery store? (Please don’t report me to the ‘finger-liking’ police – I happen to know some of you are guilty).

Hope all of you in Sothern Ontario are enjoying this period of Indian Summer. (or can’t we use that “I” word any more?).

Your old Uncle Russ.

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone:

How did you like our first snowfall?

I wasn’t too impressed myself! At least I didn’t have to shovel it. But I did start my blower just to see if it would run when we do get a bigger amount of snow!

Oh well, Yesterday Adam cut the lawn so that’s a good sign I suppose. While he was mowing the lawn, I was blowing the leaves off the lawn. Actually, I blew the leaves off the lawn before he cut the grass. Many people leave the leaves on the grass and mow right over them to use as mulch on the lawn but I don’t like to do that. I prefer a nice neat lawn without leaves whole or mulched. Another project completed today was the installation of my snow tires on the Jeep. Adam did that for me since I can no longer lift the heavy tires. It’s handy having a strong younger man around here to help with such tasks! Getting old sucks!

Speaking of sucking, what do you think of the American Election this time? Thank goodness Trump isn’t our president! What a darned fool that man is! Even the newscasters are saying what a liar he is, not to mention some of his own party members. If Trump doesn’t stop, he’s going to instigate another civil war in their country! He’s trying his best to undermine the democratic process in America for sure, just to satisfy his own ego! He doesn’t care a darn about the American people, just his own wellbeing. I sure hope Joe Biden wins and they find out that they can lay charges of some sort against Trump for the way he’s acted! Good Luck to the American people!

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A couple of days ago one of the hinges on the back glass of the Jeep’s hatchback corroded beyond repair and I had to order a new one from the dealer on Fairway Rd. That little hinge cost me $139.00. I was in shock when they gave me the bill! Oh well, it was just another one of those costs for the upkeep of a vehicle I guess. That was another project for Adam to help me with before installing the snow tires today. Actually, it was a project that I helped him with, as it turned out! He did most of the work while I handed him the tools! Thanks Adam for your help with another one of those projects! The next project Is one that I can handle and that is the disposal of our outdoor plants from the summer and the decorating of the house for Christmas this coming December! We like to have that done before the snow flies for sure! I don’t have to climb up onto the roof and put lights up anymore so it’s not too difficult a task. The most difficult thing this year will be trying to think of what to buy for each other for Christmas. When you get to be a senior, you pretty much have everything you need in life so what else is there to wish for at this time of year? Just good health and happiness with your family!

Well, that’s about all for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now … Greg.

PS: Something to Think About>
Get that online Christmas shopping done early I guess!